Jack Scott's random ramblings

Imagine the absurdity of two openly gay, married, middle aged, middle class men escaping the liberal sanctuary of anonymous London to relocate to a Muslim country. I chronicled our exploits with the mad, the sad, the bad and the glad in a blog for the whole world to ignore. Then came the book which became a critically acclaimed best seller. Its success opened out a whole new career for me, firstly as an author, and now as a publisher. Who'd have thought it? Certainly not me.
In June 2012, we ended our Anatolian affair and paddled back to Britain on the evening tide, washing up in Norwich, a surprising city in eastern England. I’m sometimes nostalgic for our encounters with the hopeless, the hapless and, yes, the happy go lucky. They gave me an unexpected tale to tell and for this I thank them. Act Two, Turkey Street, is out now in print and digital editions.

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Bedlam in Bodrum

We took a sunny dolly ride to Bodrum to see how the ambitious townscape transformation is progressing. Much has been done since our last inspection but there’s still much to do and so little time. Work so far has revealed the grand plan. Tired old crazy-paving is being replaced by top-notch slabs and the marina road is being narrowed to a single lane to provide a broad costa-style esplanade to saunter along on balmy summer evenings. Nuisance parking will be banished and the pestering from the hassle bars should be reduced.

Only about a third of the new Iberianesque promenade is complete. The re-paving of Bar Street continues apace though side sokaks resemble the Gaza Strip. It’s still a mystery what is proposed for the main road into town which is being ripped apart by Caterpillar diggers leaving deep trenches in their mighty mechanical wake. I assume this is all part of the project to upgrade the water mains.

The start of the season ominously approaches. A legion of swarthy lads in cheap jeans, sweaty vests and rusty tools has been drafted in from the east in a frantic rush to complete the work on time. Already early bird visitors of the elderly Teutonic type in straw hats and socked sandals have landed. They waddle through the rubble in bemusement. Bedlam in Berlin? Unheard of. Finished by Easter? Not a hope.

Welcome to my world – these pictures might well have been taken of downtown Fethiye over the last 3 months. Not a side sokak has escaped the diggers and resembles Beirut on a good day. Woe betide anyone going about their business in a newly cleaned pair of shoes and those roads that are excessible have craters so deep, the back end of your car disappears. Garages are doing good business I hear with demands for new shock absorbers and replacement of suspension systems. And to add insult to injury they still charge for “rubble” street parking! Could this be a government incentive. “Dig up the main infrastructure of your town and we’ll give you the first 20 miles of concrete tubing for FREE whether you want it or not”. Glad we can take it all in our stride – or should I say – a hop, skip and a jump over the trenches?

I’m in Cuba on holiday and am still desperately trying to get my Jack fix but God I forgot how slow dial up is…. It’s a wonder anyone bothered downloading porn in the 90’s!

Anyway, loving it and waiter pour me another gin and tonic whilst you apply the chip fat sun screen.

I’m not sure if I’ll get electrocuted if I take the decades old Dell to the infinity pool and continue my musing with the Pansies. Take care and I’m flashing in Cuba, but maybe not for much longer as the extension lead is being lowered into the pool!